Improvement in looms



G. ORYOMPTON. POWER LOOM.

No. 32,123. PatentedApr. 23, 1861.

I WITNESSES:

v I v 4 E i mvnnOR:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE mionr'ro'n, or WORCESTER, M AssAcnUsET'irs.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOOMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 32,123, dated April 23,1861.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE CROMPTON, of WVorcester, State ofMassachusettahave invented a certain new. and useful ImprovementinPower-Looms; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is afront elevation of a loom with my improvement applied. Fig. 2 is an endelevation, and Fig. 3 a plan, of the same.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

My invention relates to the motion which drives the picker-staffandamethod of corn trolling the action of the same.

In plain, weaving, or where onlyone shuttle is used, the picker-st'aifsare actuated alternately by cams or their equivalents, so arranged onthe cam-shaft of the loom. In looms having drop-boxes at each end of the.lathe the uncertainty from pick 'topick from which side the shuttleshould be driven led.

to the'plan of operating both picker-staffs si- '1nultaneously, eitherdrop-box then bringing a shuttle even with the race would be discharged,the picker in the empty box end returning in season for the entrance ofthe shuttle. I This is the arrangement now in Its wear and tear on thepick-.

govern the picking on each side of the loomby the presence and absenceof the shuttle. \Vhen the shuttle-box binder by the presence of theshuttle operates the protector-rod, it in turn disconnects the pickingat the opposite or empty box'end, whose binder has similar control-overthe'picking at the other end, each shuttle-box having an independentprotector-rod, as I shall now proceed to'describe.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the lathe, BB the loom-sides,C and D the gearing, the loom being constructed with the ordinarydrop-box apparatus well known and in common use among weavers. Thedrawings no not represent the well-known chain for determining theaction of the pawl which is used to operate the tappet-wheels.

E is a tappet-wheel attached to a ratchetwheel F inthe usual manner,which is pushed forward onetooth by pawl G by means of .the cam H on theshaft I, and thereby depresses the lever J and lifts at theother end bythe vertical rodK the series of shuttle-box compartments L' and bringsthe lower box M level with the race of the lathe R. The same action ofthe tappet-shaft by a tappet at' the opposite end by a duplicatearrangementto that abovede'scribed lowers the series of shuttle-boxcompartments ,N and. brings the box 0 in a line with the race. This boxis empty, while the: box M at the other end contains a shuttle Q, whichpresses out the binder R, which in'turn forces the protector-finger S,attached to the horizontal rod T, and raises the arm P attached to it,passed under ant 'necting-link U lifts the catch V from connection withthe lip on the catch-piece W. The box 0 containing no'shuttle, thebinder G being in its normal conditiomthe protectorrod W and the fingerF do not raise the catch out of contact with the catch-piece X. Thiscatch-piece, as well as its duplicate \V, is keyed fast to itsrespective shaft. The shortv and long arms Y Y are cast and attached toa common hub, which is loose on the shaft A. The shoe B is keyed fast tothe shaft. The time for picking having arrived, the roller 0 in thedouble arm-D, by the movement of the main shaft E, strikes the shoe B,which rocks the shaft A and oscillates the catch-piece X, and by theshoulder or lip comes in contact with the catch K. This being attachedto short arm Y is driven in the direction of the arrow. The long arm Y,being connected to the same, is propelled in the same direction, and bythe connection I at its extremity extending to the picker-staff II'propels at the same time the staff and the picker-stafi, by a spring atits foot, is returned to the end of the lathe and draws by .theconnection the long and short arms Y Y to their original positions. Thecatch-piece at right angles with the lathe, andby the con picker, andthe shuttle is discharged. The

is also restored to its first position by the spring J. Simultaneouslywith the operation above described the shaft L has made the samemovement. Rocking freely through the hub of the armsM M and oscillatingthe catchpieee W, its shoulder or lip passes by without engaging thecatch, the short arm to which it is attached and the long arm remainstationat", as does alsothe picker-staff N. The catch-piece XV and thepicker-staff are then returned to their first positions, like theircounterparts, as above described. The next movement of the tappet-shaftwill bring the boxes 0, containing ashuttle, and the empty box P into aline with the race. The action of the protecting-fingers and theposition of the catches will then be reversed from that of the precedingpick, the picker-stat]? 1V being driven when the rocker strikes the.shoe Q, the catch being engaged by the shoulder on the catch-piece W,while, the catch being disengaged from the shoulder on the catchpiece X,its respective staff will remain stationary.

S is a dart'or dagger, which is usually em.- ployed forliberating theshipper. \Vhen there is no shuttle in either box, the arms '1" and U areraised, which allow it to perform this office.

It will be perceived that a shuttlebox containing a shuttle, by theaction of its respective protector-rod,- renders the picker-statf at theopposite end inoperative, and that it by accident a shuttle should be ineach box on a line with the race both staifs would be silent, andconsequently avoid a collision, and the picking of them will continuesuspended for any indefinite number of picks until one of the shuttlesis removed, when the remaining one will be driven by the action of thestart, the one at the other end being silent.

Instead of controlling the picking at each end by the action of thebinders of the shuttle-boxes at the opposite ends, each box might governthe picking at its respective side and the same result would beobtained, excepting in the case where two shuttles were opposed,

when both picker-staffs would operate and both shuttles would meet, tothe manifest injury of the warp. I therefore consider the plan describedthe best. There are various ways of connecting and disconnecting the cammovement from the pieker-staffs-from that of the catch and catch-pieceabove described, and it might be found necessary to do so perhaps inapplying to the many kinds of picking motions. My invention may beapplied to drop-boxes. as herein.- described, to rotary and horizontalsliding boxes, or to a series of boxes working upon the are of a circle;but so long as the action of the shuttle by its exit from or entranceinto a box or by the presence or absence of a shuttle in oneorboth-boxes, when brou'ghtin a line with the race, does by anyinstrnmentality engage or disengage the picking mechanism with or fromone or both'the picker-staffs, the essential and fundamental principleof my invention is preserved.

Having thus fully described myinvention, what I desire to claim, andsecure by Letters Patent, is-

Controlling the operation-oh the pickerstaffs, substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

GEORGE CROMPTON.

Witnesses:

ANDRE W WILLI, HORACE WYMAN.

